China's national social security fund, which has in the past been used by the government to help stabilize Chinese stock markets, suffered single-digit losses in 2008 thanks to a strict risk management system.

Wu Xiaoling, vice-president of the National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, tells the EO how China's enormous financial reserves evolved and why they could never be used freely to drum up domestic consumption.

China's sovereign welath fund, the CIC, has distanced itself from the toxic financial assets abroad; instead, it is now taking keen interest in assets backed by the real economy activities - such as the real estate and resource industries.